Notch sensing control system for a partition assembly machine

ABSTRACT

A fluid flow sensing control system to sense the presence of notches in a series of longitudinal partition strips and initiate the insertion of a cross strip into the notches in a continuous process to produce a cell-type filler for a carton. A stream of fluid under pressure is directed across a gap in a fluid flow interruption sensing head from a series of emitting orifices to a corresponding series of collecting orifices. One of a plurality of longitudinal partition strips is directed to pass through the gap in the sensing head, thereby disrupting the normal flow from the emitting to the collecting orifices. The passage of a notch in the longitudinal partition is sensed and the signal is processed by a fluid logic system, which in turn causes a transverse partition strip to be inserted by a feeding mechanism into the aligned notches in the longitudinal strips. It should be understood that longitudinal strips are in parallel with the sensed strip so that the transverse strip is inserted in all longitudinal strips at the same time. Also these sets of plural longitudinal strips are introduced in series into the insertion area. Provision is also made to automatically clear the collecting orifices of any buildup of corrugated material debris blown off of the longitudinal strips.

limited States Patent n91 KOZlOWSlki et a1.

[ Jan. 1,1974

[ NOTCll-l SENSING CONTROL SYSTEM FOR A PAlR'HTlON ASSEMBLY MACHINE [75]Inventors: Tadeusz Kozlowski, Toledo, Ohio;

Ernest ll-l. Pemberton, Hoffman Estates, 111.

[73] Assignee: Owens-Illinois, Inc., Toledo, Ohio [22] Filed: Sept. 26,1972 [21] Appl. No.: 292,276

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 153,955, June 17,1971, Pat. No.

[52] US. Cl 93/37 R [51] lint. Cl B3ld 3/04, B3lb 11/02 [58] Field ofSearch 93/37 R, l H, 38, 93/37 EC [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,353,842 7/1944 McLaughlin et a1 93/37 R 3,690,225 9/1972Monaco et a1. 93/37 R 2,744,751 5/1956 .lanz t 93/37 R X 2,962,94312/1960 Mumper 93/37 R Primary ExaminerAndrew R. Juhasz AssistantExaminerJames F. Coan Attorney-D. T. Innis et al.

[ 5 7 ABSTRACT A fluid flow sensing control system to sense the presenceof notches in a series of longitudinal partition strips and initiate theinsertion of a cross strip into the notches in a continuous process toproduce a cell-type filler for a carton. A stream of fluid underpressure is directed across a gap in a fluid flow interruption sensinghead from a series of emitting orifices to a corresponding series ofcollecting orifices. One of a plurality of longitudinal partition stripsis directed to pass through the gap in the sensing head, therebydisrupting the normal flow from the emitting to the collecting orifices.The passage of a notch in the longitudinal partition is sensed and thesignal is processed by a fluid logic system, which in turn causes atransverse partition strip to be inserted by a feeding mechanism intothe aligned notches in the longitudinal strips. It should be understoodthat longitudinal strips are in parallel with the sensed strip so thatthe transverse strip is inserted in all longitudinal strips at the sametime. Also these sets of plural longitudinal strips are introduced inseries into the insertion area. Provision is also made to automaticallyclear the collecting orifices of any buildup of corrugated materialdebris blown off of the longitudinal strips.

4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures W PATENTEU 1 SHEET 1 OF 5 FIG.

PRIOR ART PATENTED JAN 1 I974 SHEET 2 BF 5 FIG 2 FIG. 4

FIG. 5

PATENTEU H974v 3.782.252

SHEET 3 BF 5 PATENIEB H974 3,782.252

sum a DP 5 NOTCllll SENSING CONTROL SYSTEM FOR A PARTITION ASSEMBLYMACHINE This is a division, of application Ser. No. 153,955, filed June17, 1971, now US. Pat. No. 3,712,183.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates generally to machines for assembling longitudinal and transversestrips into a celltype filler for use in cartons. More specifically,this invention relates to the control circuit for the transverse stripfeeder in such machines. Yet more specifically, this invention relatesto an improved control circuit for such machines, which senses thepresence of a notch in the longitudinal strips and actuates thetransverse strip feeder in response to the passage of a notch. Mostparticularly, this invention relates to an improved control circuit forsuch machines which senses the presence of a notch in the longitudinalstrips and utilizes a fluid logic system to cause the insertion of atransverse strip into the longitudinal strips.

2. Description of the Prior Art The basic concept of assemblingcell-type fillers for cartons by inserting, one at a time, a series oftransverse partitions in a moving plurality of longitudinal partitionstrips is well known in the art. For example, such a machine is shown inUS. Pat. No. 2,754,731. The basic method used in the prior art ofcontrolling the insertion of the transverse partitions is shown in FIGS.12 and 13 of the above noted patent and in FIGS. ll-4 of the drawingsherein. The longitudinal strips are commonly aligned with a series ofspacer bars mounted on a moving conveyor which presents the longitudinalpartitions at the assembly point. The insertion is initiated by thespacer bar raising a series of adjustable trip levers, one at a time asthe spacer bar passes, to open a control valve. This function has provenworkable, but has presented a number of problems. The trip levers mustbe individually set for each change in size of the longitudinalpartition strips, since the trip levers are positioned to coincide withthe location of upwardly directed notches in the longitudinal strips. Itshould be clear that this setting, which is generally done by aneye-ball alignment process on the part of the machine operator, caneasily lead to errors in the timing of the insertion of the transversestrips, causing a defective cell to be produced. Also, there isfrequently a relatively high friction factor between the spacer bar andthe trip lever causing the conveyor to undergo a jerking motion leadingto possible misalignment between the longitudinal and transversepartitions. The present invention overcomes all of these problems bysensing the presence of a longitudinal partition notch with a singlesensor, which touches no moving parts of the machine, and utilizing afluid logic system to sequence the feeding of transverse strips one at atime.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to apparatus forinserting the" transverse partition strips into plural longitudinalstrips in sequence, with the notched edge of one of the alignedlongitudinal strips passing through a pneumatic sensing head of a fluidlogic system and being sensed to trigger the operation of the transversepartition insertion phase of the operation of the apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of apartition assembly apparatus incorporating the control system of theprior art.

FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing of the control circuit of the prior art.

FIG. 3 is an elevation view showing the valve operating mechanism of theprior art in its normal position.

FIG. 4 is an elevation view showing the valve operating mechanism of theprior art in its operational position.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a partition assembly apparatusincorporating the improved control and sensing equipment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the sensing head and mounting of thepresent invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional elevation view of the sensing head of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic drawing of the control circuit of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION This invention relates to machines used to assemblelongitudinal and transverse partition strips into a celltype filler forcartons. In such machines, a plurality of longitudinal strips areusually arranged across the width of a moving conveyor belt. Theselongitudinal strips have a series of upwardly opening notches spacedalong the length of the strip. The corresponding notches of theplurality of longitudinal strips are aligned across the width of themoving conveyor carrying the strips. The moving conveyor serves topresent the longitudinal strips to a single assembly station where atransverse partition is inserted in the aligned notches. This process isrepeated as each set of notches reaches the assembly station until anentire cell is completed. In the present invention, a fluid flowinterruption sensing head is positioned to force the passage of at leastone of the longitudinal strips through an opening in the head just priorto the assembly station. In the sensing head itself, three jets ofhigh-pressure fluid issue from emitting orifices on one side of the gapthrough which the longitudinal strip must pass and are captured bycollecting orifices on the opposite side. Back pressure sensing devicesare connected to the outlet of the collecting orifices. So long as thejets of air pass across the gap freely, a control signal in the form ofa low pressure fluid flow is fed from the back pressure sensing deviceto a fluid logic system. Under such conditions, there is no output fromthe fluid logic system.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows an assembly apparatus,indicated generally by the numeral 10, which includes an illustration ofthe control mechanism of the prior art. The apparatus 10 includes aframe 12, formed by a pair of vertical support columns 14 and ahorizontal connecting cross beam 16. A conveyor 18, supported by a frame19, is provided to pass between the columns 14 of the frame 12 in a leftto right direction. A plurality of longitudinal paper guides 20 arepositioned above the conveyor 18 and fastened to the frame 12 by asuitable suspension member 21. A plurality of longitudinal partitions 22(only one of which is visible in FIG. I) having slots or notches 24formed therein, are advanced on the conveyor 18 through the guides 20with the notches 24 directed upwardly. A plurality of transversepartitions 26 having downwardly directed notches formed therein aremounted on an inclined table 28. The inclined table 28 is attached tothe frame 12 by suitable means not shown. A transverse angle plate 30 ispositioned to urge the stack of transverse partitions 26 toward theframe 12 under the ac tion of a cable 32, which is connected at itsother end to a counterweight (not shown).

A knocker bar mechanism, generally indicated by the numeral 34, includesa frame 36 which is slideably attached within channels 25 on the columns14 of the frame 12. The knocker bar mechanism 34 includes a flat plateor knocker bar 38 which is attached to a connecting beam 42. The beam 42is attached to a connecting rod 44 which, in turn, is fixed to a piston(not shown) mounted within an air cylinder 46. The air cylinder 46 isgenerally supported by the frame portion 36 and the knocker bar 38reciprocates relative to the frame 36 and the air cylinder 46. Theknocker 38 is positioned to reciprocate up and down adjacent to the rearedge of the paper guides 20. The vertical position of the knocker bar 38is adjustable by means of a threaded rod and a wheel 37. The rotation ofthe wheel 37 and the threaded rod 35 causes a cylinder mounting plate 31to move up or down on the mounting posts 33, thereby raising or loweringthe knocker bar 38.

As well known to those versed in the art, the knocker bar 38 isreciprocated to insert transverse partitions 26 into the slots 24 of theadvancing longitudinal partitions 22. In this prior art embodiment, thereciprocation of the knocker bar 38 is controlled by a trip levermechanism generally designated as 48. The trip lever mechanism 48comprises a horizontal flat plate support bracket 50 attached to theconveyor frame '19, vertically extending bearing plates 52 attached tothe support bracket 50, a drive shaft 54 rotatably mounted in thebearing plates 52, a valve trip lever 56 which is fixed to the driveshaft 54 and rotates therewith, a lever bar 58 which is pivotallyconnected to the drive shaft 54 by projecting pivot arms 59, a series oftrip levers 60 which may be slid along the length of the lever bar 58 tovarious positions and then locked in the position selected, and anoperating valve 62 which serves to control the cycling of the aircylinder 46. The longitudinal partitions 22 are aligned with theirtrailing edges in contact with a flight bar 64 which is attached to thesurface of and moves with the conveyor 18. In the assembly of anyparticular cell-type structure by this apparatus 12, the number of triplevers 60 will be equal to the number of longitudinal partition slots24, and the position of the trip levers 60 along the lever bar 58 willbe such as to place the trip levers 60 in transverse alignment with thelongitudinal partition notches 24 as the longitudinal partitions 22 passunder the knocker bar 38. The operation of the trip lever mechanism isclearly shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. A roller 61 attached to the lowerportion of each trip lever 60 normally rolls along the top of theconveyor 18. However, when the flight bar 64 approaches any trip lever60, the roller 61 is forced up by the flight bar 64. This motion in turnpivots the lever bar 58 and pivot arm 59, in turn causing the driveshaft 54 to pivot which thereby pivots the valve trip lever 56. Thepivoting motion of the valve trip lever 56 depresses a button 63 on theupper portion of the operating valve 62 thereby opening the operatingvalve 62 and allowing the knocker bar 38 to reciprocate and insert atransverse partition 26 into the notches 24 of the longitudinalpartitions.

This operation is illustrated clearly in the schematic circuit diagramshown in FIG. 2. Air under pressure is supplied from a source 66 bymeans of suitable piping 68 to a conventional four-way air piloted spoolvalve 70. The valve 70 is of the type which requires control air to beadmitted at one end or the other to shift the spool to thereby controland direct the flow of air exiting from it. One source of control air isfrom the operating valve 62. The operating valve 62 is itself a normallyclosed valve which is opened only by the depression of the button 63 bythe valve trip lever 56. As a safety measure, the operating valve 62 maynot receive air until an electrical solenoid valve 72 has been actuatedby turning on the machine main electrical control circuit. As a furthersafety measure, a second electrically controlled solenoid valve 74 whichis normally open, is provided to ensure that the knocker bar 38 will beretracted should electrical power to the machinery fail. Thus in thecontrol circuit shown in FIG. 2, introduction of air to the left side ofthe four-way valve 70 through a pilot air line 71, moves the valve tothe position shown and will cause air to be introduced to the cylinder46 through the line 76 to cause retraction of the connecting rod 44 andconsequently the knocker bar 38 to which the connecting rod 44 isattached. In

operation, depression of the button 63 on the valve 62 will allow air tobe introduced to the right side of the spool valve 70 through a pilotair line 69 thereby shifting the flow of air from a knocker bar up airline 76 to a knocker bar down air line 78, thereby driving the piston ofthe air cylinder 46 downward. As a result, the knocker bar 38 willreciprocate downward, feeding a transverse partition 26 into the notches24 of the longitudinal partitions. At the bottom of its stroke, theknocker bar 38 will mechanically trip a reset valve 80 to the left asviewed in FIG. 2. The valve 80 is similar to the operating valve 62, andupon shifting will introduce air into the pilot air line 71 of thefour-way valve 70, thereby shifting the spool within the four-way valve70 and causing air to be directed into the air line 76 once again. Thiswill then cause retraction of the knocker bar 38 to its initialposition. This cycle is repeated as each lever 60 is engaged by the bar64.

Turning now to FIG. 5, the assembly apparatus 10 is seen to be generallythe same as that shown in FIG. 1 and operates in substantially the samemanner. Those structural elements that are identical have been given thesame reference numerals and the control system of the invention with itssensing head will now be described in detail. The cumbersome andinvolved trip lever mechanism 48 of FIG. 1 has been removed and has beenreplaced by a fluid notch sensing head assembly 82. Note that thesensing head assembly 82 is mounted on an existing extension 84 of theslideable knocker bar frame 36. The sensing head assembly 82 is mountedsuch that one of the longitudinal partitions 22 must pass through thesensing head assembly 82 prior to the point at which the knocker bar 38would insert a transverse partition 26 into the notches 24 of thelongitudinal partitions 22.

FIGS. 6 and 7 clearly show the details of the sensing head assembly 82,details which are not visible in FIG. 5. Referring first to FIG. 6, aninverted U-shaped guide channel 86 is machined from the lower portion ofthe extension 84 of the knocker bar frame 36. The sensing head 88, whichis substantially of an elongated, inverted U shape with a projectingboss 89, is slideably mounted on the guide channel 86. The longitudinaladjustment of the sensing head 88 along the guide channel 86 iscontrolled by an adjusting screw 90 which is in threaded engagement witha threaded hole 91 in the projecting boss 89. The adjusting screw 90extends through a split clamping slot 92, located in the lower portionof a clamp block 94 which is in turn secured to the extension of theknocker bar frame 84 by two bolts 96. Clamping force is applied to thesplit clamping slot 92 by means of a clamp screw 98, thus preventing thesensing head 88 from moving from a selected position. Nine air lines 99,100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106

I and 107 are attached to the sensing head 88. Air enters the sensinghead 88 through the upper three air lines 99, 100 and 101, leaves thesensing head 88 through the lowermost three air lines 105, 106 and 107,while the three intermediate air lines 102, 103 and 104 are used tointroduce air into the sensing head for a cleaning function to beexplained later. Referring now to FIG. 7, which is a cross-sectional,elevational view of the sensing head 88 of FIG. 6, air is seen to enterthe sensing head 88 through an inlet air line as 100, pass through thetop portion of the sensing head, and exit through an emitting orifice108 directed across the gap between the legs of the generally invertedU-shaped sensing head 88. It should be understood that each of the inletair lines 99, 100 and 101 have corresponding emitting orifices such as108. On the other side of the gap, between the legs of the sensing head88, is a colle'cting orifice 109 which communicates with an outlet airline such as 106. Of course, each of the outlet air lines 105, 106 and107 have corresponding collecting orifices 109. It may thus beseen'that, with no obstruction present between the legs of the sensinghead 88, there will be a net flow of air from the three inlet lines 99,100 and 101 to and out of the three outlet air lines 105, 106 and 107.Under conditions to be described later in conjunction with the controlcircuit of this device, the air flow into the inlet air lines 99, 100and 101 is stopped and air is introduced into the three cleansing airlines 102, 103 and 104 to dislodge debris which may have collected inthe collecting orifices 109.

Referring now to FIG. 8, which is a schematic representation of thecontrol circuit of the present invention, the elements enclosed withinthe dotted lines correspond to the sensing head 88. The control circuitshown in FIG. 8 replaces the valves 62 and 72 shown in FIG. 2, as wellas the entire trip lever mechanism 48 shown in FIG. 1. Otherwise, thecircuit used is identical to that shown in FIG. 2 and the elementsoperate in'the same manner as previously described with reference toFIG. 2. With specific reference to FIG. 8, an inlet manifold 112receives compressed filtered dry air from a source not shown. Themanifold feeds three branch air lines 113, 114 and 15. The branch 113 isdirected through a high-pressure air regulator 116 which maintains aconstant air pressure supply of from to psig to a four-way, pilotoperated one-way, spool valve 118, which is normally biased to provide asource of high-pressure air via a branch pipeline 119 to the inlet lines99, 100 and 101 in the sensing head 88. The inlet lines 99, 100 and 101terminate in the previously mentioned emitting orifices 108 which aredirected across the. gap inthe sensing head-88 toward the collectingorifices 109. If there is no obstruction between the emitting orifices108 and the collecting orifices 109, the air flow will continue acrossthe gap in the sensing head 88 and exit through the outlet lines 105,106 and 107. As shown in FIG. 8, however, a longitudinal partition 22 isshown in position in the gap in the sensing head 88, with a notch 24aligned with the inlet line 100, its emitting orifice 108 and the outletline 106 with its collecting orifice 109. It will be noted that thelongitudinal partition 22 is shown in cross-section in FIG. 8 revealingits most common configuration. Two outer plys of liner board 23 arebonded to an inner corrugated medium 25. The inlet lines 101 and 99 areblocked by the longitudinal partition 22. This condition leads to aspecific logic configuration which will be discussed after the variouscomponents of the control system itself are considered. The outlet lines105, 106 and 107 are fed into back pressure sensing devices 120, 121 and122 manufactured by Johnson Service of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Returningnow to the manifold 112, the branch line 114 leads the incoming air to alow-pressure air regulator 124 which provides a source of low-pressureair of from l /z to 3 psig to each of the three back pressure sensors120,' 121 and 122. This is achieved by splitting the branch line 114into three independent segments after the air is reduced in pressure bythe lowpressure air regulator 124. Each of the back pressure sensors120, 121 and 122 has an output line 125, 126 and 127. The output lines125 and 127 are connected directly to a fluidic NOR gate 130, modelFLB-25l manufactured by Johnson Service, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Theoutlet line 126 is fed to a second fluidic NOR gate 132 (identical tothe NOR gate 130), and whose output forms a third input for the fluidicNOR gate 130. The NOR gates 130 and 132 are logic elements whosecharacteristics are such that an output is obtained only when all of theinputs to the NOR gate are zero. Thus the NOR gate 130 has three inputswhose value must be zero before it will produce an output, while 'theNOR gate 132 has but a single input whose value must be zero before anoutput will be obtained. In the case of fluid element NOR gates, aninput of zero is equivalent to no air pressure on the inlet line to thefluid NOR gate. The output of both NOR gates 130 and 132 will be a pulseof air. The output air is supplied to the NOR gate 130 by an air line131 which is connected to the branch line 114, while the NOR gate 132 issupplied by an air line 133, also connected to the branch line 114. Theoutput of the NOR gate 130 branches into two segments, air lines 137 and138. The air line 137 is connected to an indicator panel 134 (made up ofmultiple fluid indicators 134, model FDM- manufactured by JohnsonService, Milwaukee, Wisconsin,) and the air line 138 is connected to aninterfacing valve 136, model LA, manufactured by Humphrey Products,Kalamazoo, Mich. The interfacing valve 136 in turn receives ahigh-pressure air input from the branch line 115 connected to the inletmanifold 112. The interfacing valve 136 is normally biased such that itwill give no output unless it receives a signal from the fluidic NORgate through the air line 138. Upon receipt of a signal from the fluidicNOR gate 130, the air from the branch line 115 is allowed to passthrough the interfacing valve 136 and enter the fourway spool valve 70through the pilot air line 69 causing the air cylinder 46 to reciprocatethe knocker bar 38.

It will be noted then, that an air line 139 is connected from the branchline 1 14 to the output air line 138 from the NOR gate 130. The air line139 supplies a small flow of air, under the control of a needle valve143, to the operating mechanism of the interfacing valve 136. This airflow keeps the valve 136 partially switched, thereby increasing itsspeed of operation when a signal is received from the NOR gate 130. Itwill be also noted that a branch line 140 is connected from the outputof the interfacing valve 136 to the indicator panel 134. A fixedpressure dropping resistor 114 is inserted in the branch line 140 toreduce the pressure from the interfacing valve 136 to a level acceptableby the indicator panel 134. The indicator panel 134 comprises a seriesof fluid flow indicators which give a visual confirmation of theoperation of various functions in the control sequence. As previouslynoted, the fluidic NOR gate 130 has its output connected to theindicator panel 134 as, and in addition, the fluidic NOR gate 132 hasits output connected to the'indicator panel 134 through an air line 142.The operation of the system is as follows:

With no obstruction between all of the emitting orifices 108 and thecollecting orifices 109, air is flowing through the outlet lines 105,106 and 107 into the back pressure sensing devices 120, 121 and 122. Theeffect of this flow is to require the air introduced into the backpressure sensing devices 120, 121 and 122 by the branching of thelow-pressure line 114 to be emitted through the outlet lines 125, 126and 127. Under these circumstances, the NOR gate 132 will have inputsequivalent to a logic one from the output lines 125 and 127 and an inputequal to a logic zero from the fluid NOR gate 132, since the input tothe fluid NOR gate 132 is a logic one" from the output line 126. Thefollowing truth table indicates all of the possible variations of inputsto the NOR gate 130:

TRUTH TABLE INPUTS TO NOR GATE 130 Sensor 120 l 0 l 0 1 0 I Sensor 121 00 l l 0 0 l l Sensor 122 0 O O O 0 l l I OUTPUT FROM NOR GATE 130 0 0 l0 0 0 O 0 0 no air output I air output Note that the input to the NORgate 130 from the sensor 121 will always be the inverse of the valueshown in the Table, due to the presence of the NOR gate 132 between theSensor 121 and the NOR gate 130.

It is obvious that there is only one set of input signals which willgive an output signal from the NOR gate 130, namely, the configurationshown in FIG. 8, in which the input lines 101 and 99 are blocked and theinput line 100 is open to the collecting orifice 109 of the output line106, due to the presence of a notch 24 therebetween. Under theseconditions, the air entering the back pressure sensing devices 120 and122 from the branches of the low-pressure line 114 is allowed to exitthrough the sensing head output lines 105 and 107 because of the lack ofa back pressure created in these lines. This then gives a logic signalof zero in the back pressure output lines 125 and 127 into the NOR gate130. The input to the NOR gate 132 is a logic one" because the flow fromthe output line 126 is still flowing due to the passage of air from theinput line 100 and emitting orifice 108 to the collecting orifice 109 ofthe output line 106. This being the case, the output from the NOR gate132 is a logic zero, thereby giving all of the inputs to the NOR gate130 a value of logic zero and causing an output from the NOR gate 130.This is the logic configuration previously discussed, under whichcircumstances the interfacing valve 136 will allow a signal to passcausing the insertion of a transverse partition 26 into the longitudinalpartition notches 24.

The longitudinal partitions 22 which pass through the sensing head 88frequently have small pieces of paper, resulting from the notchingoperation, attached to the notch 24. This debris may be blown off thenotch 24 by the air stream from the emitting orifices 108 to thecollecting orifices 109, the debris tending to accumulate and clog thecollecting orifices 109. As a result, a false signal may be generatedwhich will cycle the knocker bar 38. As an example, assume thecollecting orifice 109, associated with the trailing outlet line 107,becomes blocked. As a result, back pressure sensor output line 127 willprovide a constant logic zero signal to the NOR gate 130. Thus, a soonas the partition 22 has passed beyond the collecting orifices 109associated with the outlet line 107 and 106, a false signal to insert atransverse partition 26 will be generated. This is because the logiczero signal from the output line 127 combined with the logic one signalfrom the output line 126 and the logic zero signal from the output line125 (due to the fact that the partition 22 is still blocking thecollecting orifice 109 of the sensing head outlet line 105) isequivalent to the logic state in which longitudinal partitions 22 are inposition to have a transverse partition 26 inserted.

It has been found that the clogging of an orifice 109 takes place over arelatively long period of time. Thus, if the outlet lines 105, 106 and107 along with their associated collecting orifices 109 are blown cleanbetween sets of longitudinal partitions 22, no clogging will occur. Toachieve this function, a fluid counter 144 which will give an air pulseafter a specific number of counts is utilized. In this preferredembodiment, the counter used is a model SAC-24 manufactured by HumphreyProducts, Kalamazoo, Michigan. The operation of the counter 144 is asfollows: The counter 144 is pre-set for the number of transversepartitions 26 to be placed in each cell unit to be assembled. As pointedout in FIG. 2, the downward stroke of the knocker bar 38 trips the valve80, giving an output air pulse through the air line 71. A branch airline 145, from the air line 71, is used as an input to the counter 144.Each pulse of air released by the valve is counted by the counter 144.When the pre-set number of counts has been reached, the counter 144passes a pulse of air via air line 146 to the valve 118. The air forthis purpose is furnished by a branch air line 147, connected to thecounter 144, of the branch line 113. The pulse of air to the valve 118shifts the flow of air from the air line 1 19, connected to the inlets99, and 101, to an air line 148 connected to the cleaning air lines 102,103, and

.104 and also resets the counter 144 to count the next set of airpulses.

With the foregoing in view, a general summary of the operation is asfollows: When a notch passes through the sensing head, at one point thecenter orifice will be open to flow through the notch while the leadingand trailing orifices will be blocked. In this case, the fluid logicsystem will give an output, causing a transverse partition to be fed andinserted into the aligned notches in the longitudinal partitions. Theslight operating delay inherent in fluid logic systems is utilized inthis case to allow the notch to clear the sensing head before thetransverse partition is fed. Also provided is a system to automaticallyclean the collecting orifices of any corrugated dust between cycles.This control system has proven to be especially rugged, dependable andeasily adjusted for cell size changes. In addition, the use of fluidlogic has avoided the problems associated with using conventionalelectrical relay logic in the dusty environment surrounding suchmachines. Namely, relays are frequently subject to malfunctioning industy areas if elaborate precautions are not taken to prevent theinfiltration of dust into the relay enclosures. Finally, as pointed outpreviously, the multiple problems of the conventional trip lever controlsystem have been completely eliminated by the use of the improvedcontrol system of the present invention.

We claim:

1. In a machine for assembling longitudinal and cross partition stripsto produce a cell-type filler for a carton which includes means formoving one set of parallel panels longitudinally toward an assemblypoint, with means for moving a second set of panels in a directionnormal to the plane thereof toward the assembly point at a level abovethe first set of panels, notches in the first set of panels directedupwardly and notches in the second set of panels directed downwardly, areciprocating feed member adapted to move a single one of said secondpanel, one at a time downward to an interengaging position with saidfirst set of panels and means to reciprocate said feed member, theimprovement in said machine comprising: sensing head means for detectingthe presence of said upwardly directed notches having transverselyseparated legs across which streams of fluid under pressure are directedfrom inlet ports to outlet ports and through which at least one of saidfirst set of panels must pass at an elevation sufficient to interruptsaid fluid stream, a source of sensing fluid under pressure, meansconnecting said source to the inlet ports of said notch sensing means,and fluid logic means connected to the outlet port of said notch sensingmeans and said feed member reciprocating means to cause said feed memberto insert one of said second set of panels transversely into said firstset of panels in response to the passage of one of said upwardlydirected notches through said notch sensing means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means to sense the presence ofsaid notch comprises a fluid flow interruption sensing head having atleast three longitudinally spacedapart emitting orifices lying in thesame horizontal plane and connected to a source of fluid under pressureand at least three collecting orifices transversely separated from saidemitting orifices, but longitudinally and vertically aligned with saidemitting orifices, such that flow from said emitting orifices normallytravels into said collecting orifices, the presence of a notch in one ofsaid first set of panels causing the flow from the leading and trailingemitting orifices to be blocked from said collecting orifices while theflow from a central emitting orifice will pass through said notch to thecollecting orifice associated with said emitting orifice.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said fluid logic means comprises,back pressure sensing means connected to each outlet of said fluid flowinterruption sensing head, a source of control fluid under pressure,means to connect said control fluid to the inlet of said back pressuresensing means, first NOR gate means connected to the outlet of a centralone of said back pressure sensing means, second NOR gate means connectedto the outlets of the remaining back pressure sensing means and theoutlet of said first NOR gate means, a source of low pressure signalair, means connecting said source of signal air to said first and secondNOR gate means, a source of high pressure air, and means connected tosaid source of high pressure air responsive to a signal from said secondNOR gate means for reciprocating said feed member.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 further including means to divert saidstream of fluid from said emitting orifices to'said collecting orificesto clean said collecting orifices when none of said first set of panelsare present. l

1. In a machine for assembling longitudinal and cross partition stripsto produce a cell-type filler for a carton which includes means formoving one set of parallel panels longitudinally toward an assemblypoint, with means for moving a second set of panels in a directionnormal to the plane thereof toward the assembly point at a level abovethe first set of panels, notches in the first set of panels directedupwardly and notches in the second set of panels directed downwardly, areciprocating feed member adapted to move a single one of said secondpanel, one at a time downward to an interengaging position with saidfirst set of panels and means to reciprocate said feed member, theimprovement in said machine comprising: sensing head means for detectingthe presence of said upwardly directed notches having transverselyseparated legs across which streams of fluid under pressure are Directedfrom inlet ports to outlet ports and through which at least one of saidfirst set of panels must pass at an elevation sufficient to interruptsaid fluid stream, a source of sensing fluid under pressure, meansconnecting said source to the inlet ports of said notch sensing means,and fluid logic means connected to the outlet port of said notch sensingmeans and said feed member reciprocating means to cause said feed memberto insert one of said second set of panels transversely into said firstset of panels in response to the passage of one of said upwardlydirected notches through said notch sensing means.
 2. The apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein said means to sense the presence of said notch comprisesa fluid flow interruption sensing head having at least threelongitudinally spaced-apart emitting orifices lying in the samehorizontal plane and connected to a source of fluid under pressure andat least three collecting orifices transversely separated from saidemitting orifices, but longitudinally and vertically aligned with saidemitting orifices, such that flow from said emitting orifices normallytravels into said collecting orifices, the presence of a notch in one ofsaid first set of panels causing the flow from the leading and trailingemitting orifices to be blocked from said collecting orifices while theflow from a central emitting orifice will pass through said notch to thecollecting orifice associated with said emitting orifice.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 2 wherein said fluid logic means comprises, backpressure sensing means connected to each outlet of said fluid flowinterruption sensing head, a source of control fluid under pressure,means to connect said control fluid to the inlet of said back pressuresensing means, first NOR gate means connected to the outlet of a centralone of said back pressure sensing means, second NOR gate means connectedto the outlets of the remaining back pressure sensing means and theoutlet of said first NOR gate means, a source of low pressure signalair, means connecting said source of signal air to said first and secondNOR gate means, a source of high pressure air, and means connected tosaid source of high pressure air responsive to a signal from said secondNOR gate means for reciprocating said feed member.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 2 further including means to divert said stream of fluid from saidemitting orifices to said collecting orifices to clean said collectingorifices when none of said first set of panels are present.